Longing
by GrangerMalfoyNess
Summary: Fluffy, sweet oneshot! Pairings: Draco/Hermione, Ron/Lavender, Harry/Ginny, Neville/Luna, Seamus/Den (briefly mentioned)


**Hello! I know i'm doing a story that's far from done, but i really needed some distraction; and i had (this may or may not sound weird) a dream about this, so... I wanted to write it. YAY HAPPY, SWEET FLUFFY STUFF.**

**(please review! It always makes my work so much easier and i truly cannot tell how happy i get when i have reviews!)**

It had been a long time coming. Hermione working as a nurse, while Draco working as a healer at Mungos, it's was only a question about time.  
Hermione had been dating Ron Weasley for almost five years, when they finally decided that their relationship no longer sufficed and lived up to the hopes they had for each other - so, they parted ways. Ron had recently been engaged til Lavender Brown, and Hermione could not be any happier for the two - they were a perfect match.  
She often visited Harry and Ginny; they had already started a family on their own - and Ginny had announced not so long ago, that they were having another.  
Luna and Neville had gone to work together at Hogwarts; finally discovering their true feelings towards each other, and were both teaching.

Hermione was actually happy. She felt lonely, but everyone did once in a while, she often thought. She felt sad when all of her closest friends got married or just got together (she didn't find it surprising when Seamus and Dean finally got together), but mostly because she would have liked to come home at night to someone else but Crookshanks.

She buried her thoughts of the matter in her work; as a nurse at Mungo's, she had plenty to do. She hadn't really given it any thought that she might have to work with people from Hogwarts; she was well-liked and happy.  
When she came to work one morning, she did her normal routine; checked in on the long-staying patients, drank a cup of coffee and at last got her schedule for the day. Normally, she had two specific healers she had been following during her last three years at Mungo's - Moriana and Blibbert. She had not expected his name to pop up out of nowhere on the sheet of parchment draped over the little clipboard she was holding.

She had suddenly become very aware of him; she had for many years tried to avoid his gaze and his attempts to talk to her - she simply couldn't bear it. Now, she found herself almost having her eyes glued to him when he worked or when he roamed the halls, a group of giddy nurses trailing him.  
One day, he came up to her and smirked, looking into her brown eyes.  
"Granger, it's rude to stare." He stated, the smirk still upon his face. She shuddered slightly at his voice; it had been a long time since she had heard it last.  
"I have to be your nurse, Healer Malfoy. I have to keep an eye out for you." She answered back.

Since that day, they often joined each other around noon, not a word being said, and walked together to the café across of the street - they sat down, ate their luches, smiled a bit at each other, but walked silently back again.  
It soon became Hermione's favourite time of the day - she liked to unwind, and if undwinding meant looking at Draco Malfoy in a labcoat for 40 minutes a day, she was very contempt.

One day, Draco walked up to her as she was lounging around the front desk, drinking her coffee.  
"Granger. Dinner tonight? Fine, pick you up at eight." She didn't get a chance to answer, but who would she be kidding if she said she would have turned him down?

So, she went home, a bit early, and franticly called both Lavender and Ginny over - desperately needing her two best friends help. They chattered a bit, but Hermione smoothly avoided the sumbject of who she was going out with, while Lavender and Ginny fixed her hair and makeup.  
When it was time to pick an outfit, she couldn't decide - the girls had been to no use on the matter, as they refused to help before she said who she was going out with.

"lav, Ginny, leave it be! I won't tell, no matter what you try." Hermione shouted while she was in the closet, trying on outfits.  
"well, you should let us know! We deserve o knwo!" Ginny shouted back and Lavender laughing.  
Hermione sighed.  
"Oh, for goodness sake, just pick something!" Lavender shouted five minutes later. It was almost 19.30, and Hermione was well aware on the matter.  
"I CAN'T! HELP ME OR TRUST ME YOU WILL REGRET IT!" Hermione shrieked.  
"Try the green silky-dress. and the black lace-shoes. Uhm, cose a silver bracelet, and your good to go!" Ginny shouted at Hermione, who pulled the things out.  
"thank you!" She yelled back, quickly pulling the dress on. It had always been a bit to much for her, but she was certain Draco would like it - at least it was low-cut, so he would have something to look at.

The doorbell suddenly rang, and all three girls ran as fast as they could to reach the door first. Hermione reached it, opening the door a little, waving goodbye to the girls through the crack in the door, and stepping out.  
Draco looked stunning. It would almost seem as they had coordinated their outfits - he wore a green silk shirt with black pants and tie, and his smile was breathtaking.  
"Thank you for joining me." He said softly, taking her by the arm and leading her to the car.

The dinner was perfect, at least in Hermiones opinion - they talked and laughed, and their hands kept touching - they were oblivous, or they simply didn't care, about the Prophet's photograph snapping pictures of them.  
"I really am glad you said yes." Draco said to her,a s they waited for the bill to arrive.  
"I didn't have a coice, did i?" Hermione smirked. Draco laughed.  
"No, i guess. But, still, thank you." He said sincerly. she took his hand.  
"I know you didn't think i would have turned into a good person, yeh?" He smirked, but his eyes telling Hermione how badly he wished she had.

"I had always thought you were a good person. You had jsut been forced to make the wrong choices." She simply said, moving her hand up to stroke the part of his lower arm where the dark mark lingered.  
He smiled tenderly.

Many days passed like this; weeks, months and finally years, where they would talk; they had begun to retreat in Hermione or Draco's apartment, drinking bottles of wine while curling up against each other.  
Of course, people had been wildly surprised by the photos that had leaked in a steady stream since their first date; but quickly got over it. It wasn't any of their buisness, Draco had told the press one night.  
They had found each other, everybody kept saying, in spite of all the odds. Hermione and Draco had been bewildered by the statement, but Harry explained one day that the Prophet mostly looked to a "star-crossed-lovers-situation", and since they had been completely different during their school years, this was what they had.  
Hermione had been surprised at how easy her friends had welcomed Draco into their midst; even more surprised when Dracos friends and family did the same.

They held christmas, birthday and markings of other things with all of their friends and family gathered; they acted like a married couple, and it would soon seem as if Hermione had moved into Draco's apartment - their friends betting on how long it would take them to finalyl just get married.

This had all happened two years ago. Today, Draco stood under a white arch, the golden light of the setting sun behind him, only interrupted by the lilacs peeping out from the arch.  
White chairs had been placed all around the arch, almost as a half circle, and all of his friends and family and hers had gathered, quietly whispering to each other.  
White rose-petals had been spread as a walk-path, and his eyes kept searching up and down for a hint for her arrival.  
Suddenly, music started playing, filling the garden with promises of joy and love, and all of the guests seated stopped talking instantly.

She came from the end of the garden; her simple white dress flowing around her bare feet, and her hair falling softly as autumm leaves in cascades down the front and back ofher dress. She looked at him, her brown eyes locking with his grey, and she smiled; her rosy cheeks revealing two dimples and she could barely contain her pace - it was like a magnet, he felt it too, a pull so strong towards the woman he loved that he could barely stand his ground.

It took agonizing minutes before she reached him, he held out his hand, and she carefully placed her small in his - shifting the bundle of freeshias to her left hand instead.  
the minister uttered words, but they couldn't hear; they were locked in each other, their gaze never leaving the other's face and suddenly, a golden light streamed onto their locked hands; they both looked up.

"Draco Lucius Malfoy, will you promise this gathering to forever be with her? Forever charish her? and forever loving her, until you become ashes born from the phoenix?" The minister asked. Draco's voice rang clear through the silence that had falled upon the garden.  
"I promise." The minister smiled, and asked Hermione the same.  
"I promise." She answered, and smiled broadly at Draco, while the golden light surrounding their hands descended upon them and woved them together.  
"I wish you to forever be bonded." The minister said, and Draco smiled at his wife, who raised her eyebrows - he swooped her up so quickly she shrieked, and he kissed her - and not a person in the crowd watching them would say they had ever seen anything so loving again.

"I will never break this bond, Hermione Jean Granger-Malfoy." Draco whispered to her.  
"And nor will I." She whispered back.


End file.
